Like many of our 2020 couples, Elizabeth and Corey were married last year in a small ceremony with just a few family members in attendance. They postponed their big celebration, and after an extra year of planning (not to mention a venue change) this May, it was finally time to PARTY! After more than a year apart, they wanted a venue that their whole family and all of the guests could enjoy for a whole weekend, and Stonewall Resort in Roanoke WV was perfect for it!
Getting Ready at Lakeside Cottages
Elizabeth and Corey each had a lakeside cottage for their wedding day preparations. They were perfect for their whole wedding party, and also for their little dog Banner!
Fun fact: Elizabeth and Corey have a Shih Tsu (Banner) I have a Shih Tzu (Bennie), and my 2nd shooter, Kristen with Kristen Riley Photography has a Shih Tzu. So I was thrilled when I started sorting through footage to see that Kristen had *nailed* the cute doggo footage!
An Epic Cookie Table
Another one of my favorite Pittsburgh/SWPA wedding traditions is the cookie table. It’s customary for the women in the bride’s family to all make cookies for the wedding reception. Anymore, elaborate cookie tables are designed and set up by bakeries, but for this wedding, Elizabeth’s family stepped up in a BIG way. So big, in fact, that they had to rent a U-Haul trailer and a chest freezer to bring all of the cookies to the wedding! They plugged their little freezer in at the cottage and on Saturday morning, headed over to set up the most epic of cookie tables!
Private Vows at First Look
This wedding was full of personal details and sentimentality. Their officiant was a long time friend who was able to add some great stories to the ceremony and share how they met, and early days of dating. Corey and Elizabeth wanted to exchange personal vows, but they weren’t too sure about doing that in front of all of their wedding guests, so they elected to share their personal vows with each other, at their first look.
This is absolutely my favorite thing I’ve seen at a first look. It was funny, emotional, and just so REAL. These vows brought us all to tears…then quickly to laughter as the kids from the neighboring cabin provided their commentary on all the kissing.
Sunset Portraits on the Lake
We work with a lot of photographers every year, but I never laugh as hard as I do when working with Amberlee Christey Photography. Once the party started, we ducked out for a sunset portrait session on the lake. The spring sky was a gorgeous shade of blue that reflected on the water. By the time we got back to the resort, it was almost dark, but we ended up with some of the best photo and video images from the whole day. Amberlee and Corey had me falling over with laughter.
Vendor Team